Part – 1 (2nd June – 9th June)
Hi I’m Atish and I’m writing this from Sidhbari, Dharamshala at my grandparents house (they’re one hundred and six (106) bird species here that we have documented) about the recently found Paradise Flycatcher nest. Earlier this last month our Aunt, Maya Khosla, visited our grandparents and said she wanted to visit Pong Dam to go birding. After waking up at 4 AM one morning she went and sat at one place on the property and said she had seen fifty seven birds in one morning and going to Pong was a lost cause.
When we arrived from Delhi for our summer break I was filled with excitement after my dadi (paternal grandmother) filled me in on the news. Since I was also getting the chance to sleep in for once at not having to think about school wake ups, I went later in the day and sat next to the greenhouse (where our aunt sat) and waited. After seeing many White Eyes and Himalayan Bulbuls passing, a Verditer Flycatcher flew by and perched on a nearby tree. This woke me up, however until I removed the lens cap it had flown and yet again I was losing hope and patience as lunch was nearly ready. I sat back in my chair and waited looking out onto the open fields when a flash of bright orange streaked by me. A female Paradise Flycatcher!
I immediately got up and saw where it landed. Only when I got closer did I see that she was feeding three or two (not sure) young flycatchers whilst perched on the rim her nest near a cherry tree. I got so excited that I nearly forgot about filming or even getting a record shot. Later through the day I kept visiting the cherry nest only to find many females (maybe three or four) around the nest flying about, going and coming, yet no sign of the male. Two days later I went to the greenhouse with my dadi to transfer the tomatoes we had planted the last time we visited. I was smelling some thyme my grandmother gave me when a white bird with a sort of flutter in its streamer like tail flew by and perched near the tree where the cherry nest was. The male! I rushed out to see it, yet was too scared I would lose it and didn’t bother going back to the house to get the camera. I observed it for a while until it got bored of me and flew off out and over the fields. After this I kept visiting the nest a few times a day at least for three days and the male was still nowhere to be seen.
One day me and my brother were playing cricket and I hit the ball high up in the air. I looked up towards it and my eyes landed on a male Paradise Flycatcher sitting far away on a tree. I rushed in to get the camera yet it had flown off again and I was left unrewarded and still longing to get a picture of it. I decided to then borrow the tripod from my grandfather and went back and forth filming the cherry nest finally getting some decent footage of the female feeding its young. Later that day I went to the highest point of our property next to the fish pond with the camera set to shutter priority to try find a crimson sunbird among the Belladonna flowers. No luck. Yet. Just as I was walking back I saw the male and female Flycatchers flying around near the bamboo. I ran up to get a better view but they kept moving. Then another male flew by me, now there were two! So I decided to focus on the solitary one and got some decent pictures of it on bamboo and above on a branch looking down onto the fields. Later I heard my dada (paternal grandfather) call me for lunch so I made my way down to the house extremely happy with what I had just seen.
The next day I visited the nest to just get a few minutes of footage only to realise that there was a White Browed Fantail nesting a few meters away from the Paradise. I got extremely puzzled as I knew that these to birds are extremely territorial and why would they nest so close together. When I came back to the house I searched it up to see what was happening. Turns out I had stumbled upon a highly strategic natural phenomenon called a “nesting association” or “protective clustering.” These two birds watch out for each others nests while one of them is away so they can alert each other of danger. It’s like shared security so when a predator approaches both birds will team up and mob the attacker collectively, significantly boosting the chicks in both nests’ survival rate. These two birds also have two things in common which is that they both like to nest in the shady understory of trees or deciduous forests so they can remain undetected by predators. They also use similar materials to make their nests like plant fibres, roots and huge amounts of spider silk to anchor the structure so it stays firm and solid. Overall as an experience I feel this has been amazing already and I’m still yet to see the chicks develop some fur and they’re only a few days away from leaving the nest!
– Here are some pictures from the first week of viewing the cherry nest. Scroll down for part 2, 3, 4, 5 and video at the end ↓
Part – 2 (10th June – 15th)
A few days later after I had discovered the nesting association I saw a male in rufous morph visiting the nest and feeding the chicks. Though I was confused, it came to me that I had only see the female feeding the chicks and never the male, probably due to the time I visited the nest or that the male was foraging further away. Only now it dawned upon me that not even one of the two males I had photographed, both if which were in white morph, were father to these chicks. Now there were three males on the property and one was even in rufous morph! After a few hours post my first visit I saw, whilst reading, that the male in rufous morph was foraging near a rocky area flying up and down rapidly in search for an insect. I put my book down and followed it to the nest. As I set up the tripod I saw a mongoose approach the nest and many birds including the Himalayan Bulbul, Flycatcher and Fantail mob it. Scared, yet hesitant to involve I let nature do its thing. After a few minutes of continous attacks the moongoose finally decided it wasnt worth it and scuttled off into the grassy fields.I filmed the chicks for a while being fed by both male and female this time giving me some clarity on the matter as it is known that Paradise Flycatchers pairs split their parenting duties equally. After looking at the parents and how feeding is quite a hassle and problematic at times, I started having my own problems. Mosquitoes. Clearly Odomos wasn’t doing its job and it had gotten dark so I decided to take a break and go back tommorow.
It was the 14th of June and a dry, bright morning with sharp shadows making shooting almost impossible forcing me to delay my visit to the nest with the camera. Nevertheless, I went without any equipment just to check on the nest prior to lunch at around 11:30. To my surprise I didn’t see the chicks in the nest but due to my angle I couldn’t tell if they had exited or just gone deeper into the nest (which was unlikely but I couldn’t confirm). Due to this the second I got back to the house I made sure the camera was charged and tripod was setup as I would go back just as soon as I moved a little further into the day. Passing time, I read the Hobbit and simply waited for better light. Just as it got slightly darker me and my brother headed towards the nest. We again looked around this time despereate to find the chicks as it seemed that they had exited the nest! later after fifteen minutes I saw some movement in the distance accross the fields but thought it was a leaf and just gave it a quick check. When I positioned the camera to face it I saw that there were two Paradise Flycatcher chicks sitting on the branch. I hurriedly called over my brother and locked the tripod in position to film as I looked up and saw that we didnt have much time as soon we had to head somwhere. After many long minutes of filming mosquitoes decided to kick us out of the area and we descended towards the house with lots to share with our parents and grandparents.
I used my dada’s phone to call up our dad, since he was in Delhi at the time and we were here with our mom, and told them the news with a extra large smile on my face. Later the next day I went back earlier in the morning and sat for a long while filming a single chick sitting up in the branches of a cherry tree. Later my mom came up and was amazed by the footage I just got. I showed her a video of the female coming over and feeding the chick a butterfly that he found slightly hard to swallow. Over the next few days I got similar videos of both male and female feeding yet was only seeing two chicks at a time per visit. This confused me as I knew that I had photographed three chicks in the nest and assumed that one had maybe not survived or was pushed out premature by a stronger chick in the fight for space in the nest. I didn’t let this hinder my attention though and continued for two more days filming the nest until something spectacular happened.
One day I was playing a game with my brother using stones and who could hit a distant ladder more times. I turned my head to pick up a few more stones and saw a nest in an aamla tree and told my brother. We thought it was old and abandoned but to our surprise a few seconds later a female paradise flycatcher landed and sat on the nest possibly incubating her eggs. We both were filled with excitement and ran into the house and brought back the camera to film it for a while. Again we called up our father and filled him in on the news and later the next day showed our mom where the aamla nest was and how it was a clear spot, perfect for filming. After the excitement of the second nest the next day I went back to the first nest to try and get some footage of the chicks flying or being fed. As I approached the nest area I hear many distress calls and sound of some birds mobbing something. I looked above me as a flash of orange zipped by, but this time it wasn’t a flycatcher. A Rufous Treepie. Probably the cause of the calls as they did seem to calm down after it left the area. As I stepped into the fields, this time prepared with mosquito reppellent, I saw the male making constant feeding runs and though it was a great opportunity to get a video as the chicks were positioned in a clearing with sunlight upon them. I moved back and first clicked some pictures then set up the tripod to face the area. After a few minutes the female, followed by the male landed on a branch and fed the chicks. It was almost like a race as whichever chick landed first next to the parents got the insect. By now the chicks had developed some fur and orangish wings, however I was yet to capture them in flight.
Here are some pictures from the second week of viewing the cherry and aamla nest. Scroll down for part 3, 4, 5 and video at the end ↓
Part – 3 (16th – 18th June)
Today was the 16th of June and an extremely eventful morning. I woke up extremely late making the most of the holiday period and made my way to the nest at around 1:30pm. I looked around the sight but there was no sign of the chicks or parents. What I did see was a male in white morph jumping about in pursuit of a white butterfly and a Fulvous Breasted Woodpecker asscending a tree trunk adjacent to it. I set the camera to shutter priority mode and tried shooting (with a camera NOT bullet and gun) it in flight. My efforts in vain I moved my attention to the male in rufous morph that had just entered the area, possibly making a feeding run for the chicks hidden behing thick foliage (not sure). After the parents left I thought I should move further towards where the chicks were perched last time and stepped into the grassy fields. After three minutes of standing I hear a flutter in a nearby tree and looked up moving towards it. As I got near water canal (for the fields) I looked up and saw a male Paradise Flycatcher in a morph transition phase perched on a half made nest in a guava tree.
The male mas mostly orange with some white specs amongst its feathers. It hadn’t developed its tail yet and showed that it was only little into the process. I immediately captured a recording photo and headed back towards the house whilst passing a Speckled Piculet, Ashy Prinia and Himalayan Barbet. The next day (17th of June) at around 4:45pm I visited the aamla nest and saw the female incubating her eggs as they were still yet from hatching I guess. I didn’t see that there was much to film in the nest so I looked at another Speckled Piculet jumping its way up a guava tree. After a few shots it flew and moments later one of our dogs, Tashi, came up to me and starting jumping up to my legs so I put away with the camera and played with him and my brother till evening.
The next day the light was slightly subtler and a gut feeling told me that it would be a promising day of photography. At around 9:00am after breakfast I made my way to the cherry nest only to be greeted by a chick sitting in the distance on a bare, outcropping branch. After a few minutes of filming a male (in white morph, possibly from a nest beyond the property boundary) flew in with a flutter and perched on a nearby branch 2 o’clock from me. Luckily I had planned in advance for this moment and last night set the User Settings to a shutter speed of 1000 and iso of 400 (I should’ve kept it at 800) to take flying shots of birds. I immediately turned the dial and pointed the lens towards the bird anticipating the moment. Unlike prior moments this time I was immediately rewarded and got an amazing (one of my best so far) flying shot as I was finally using manual settings (to some extent) and getting nice shots (I recently watched a video to understand these concepts like shutter speed, aperture and ISO so I was quite happy about the results).
After the male in white morph left I gave the camera to my brother, as he just saw the male which was transitioning morphs on a branch from the other side of the grenhouse, and went back to the house and read my book. Post an amazing lunch I went at 5:00pm, this time with my mom and brother to the nest just to check again if the chicks had come out into the open. After a minutes I saw a white, round spec in the ground and walked over to the empty patch on the grass only to find that. is was a bird egg that a chick had hatched out of (probably the Paradise Flycatcher chicks as the Fantail’s ones hadn’t hatched yet). I went over to my mom and showed her what I found just as my brother walked over and held it in his hand. Our mom told us that we should take a picture for a record and memory’s sake.
Just after that excitement I heard the chicks calling from inside a bamboo cluster as the male (rufous morph) arrived and sat on a cherry tree. Just before the chicks showed themselves I told my mom that I hope that there are three of them to clear our doubts of one of them not surviving. After a few minutes the female came and landed on a tree and they ALL flew to her begging for food. It was almost like “you ask and you shall recieve” as this time! For the first time! We saw three chicks together! According to me the day couldn’t have gotten any better and I thought I was right. I quickly ran up and took turns taking pictures of the three of them sitting together on a branch until our mom told us that she’s going for a walk and we headed down with her.
Here are some pictures from the third week of viewing the cherry, aamla and guava nest. Scroll down for part 4, 5 and video at the end ↓
Part – 4 (19th – 26th June)
We started the 19th morning by discovering a new bird on the property (now there are 107 that have neen documented). As it turned out the bird was another flycatcher, the Blue Throated Flycatcher. We found it flapping around in water and later landed on the thin branches of a Japanese Maple tree. An hour or so later I went and edited the bird list by adding this on to it just when the weather decided to take a turn against what the forecast said and it rained for the next 4 and a half hours completely killing my hopes of going to the nest. Just as I thought the day was as worse as it gets me and my brother were taken (more like give no option) to the inauguration of a café on Rakkar road. After we returned the rain was still persistent and continued through the night and till the afternoon.
After lunch I started a new book (The lord of the rings – Fellowship of the ring) and played cards with my brother. At around 4:30pm the rain took a break and I darted out with the camera and tripod. This time I went with hiking boots and extra amounts of Odomos as mosquitoes loved trying to annoy me. I stepped into the muddy fields and setup the camera on the trio of chicks sitting right in front of me. It was almost like a pattern. I first saw the male once and then for the next days, till now, I saw it everyday. Now the same was happening with the chicks. I filmed them being fed and even got a family picture of sorts with the parents sitting on either side of the three.
As I put my eye to the viewfinder a flash of bright blue went by the camera lense. A Verditer Flycatcher! It went and sat nearby on a fence in perfect light. I filmed and shot it for a while till my brother joined me and took over only to be cut off by the rain. We both rushed back me with the tripod and my brother taking the camera wrapped in his bright neon hoodie (not ideal clothing for birding). As we were reaching the steps to the garden a thought came to me that I should write about this experience and post it on our blog as a single bird, in depth, entry. At first I cast the thought aside but later the next day me, my brother and parents had a discussion about our blog and how we should make it more active. Then while writing the types of blog entries I want to do I wrote this idea down and now am writing about it.
Moving back to the story. Later the next day I heard many sounds of mobbing and distress calls near where the second nest I had found in the aamla tree. After reaching the site I saw a male in white morph and many Himalayan Bulbuls mobbing and Indian Scops Owl! Amazed by the site yet confused how to capture the action I stuck to photographs and later explaining via text. After a while the calls of the Paradise got quite annoying and the owl didn’t seem bothered at all and simply sat there high up in the tree. The scene was somewhat like me and my brother, one is annoying the other and the other simply ignores until the other one gives up. After this drama I didn’t feel too well and rested for the next day and the next was rained out too allowing me to get better without really missing anything.
Today was the 24th of June and a nice morning for photographing. As always (sorry about having to repeat this phrase about a million times) I headed to the nest site with camera and tripod in hand. Again I hear many sound of mobbing and was eager to find out who the flycatchers were picking on this time. I walked up the steps, with fields full of water in preperation for rice planting to my right and bamboo custers to my left, to find that a female flycatcher and fantail were scaring off a squirrell from a few metres away from there nests. Though I couldn’t a great photo I have one that, without context, displays the drama and intensity of the scene. However on the other side of this scene was the male the was changing morphs perched on a nearby tree having already developed a small white streamer (tail). Just as I was photographing it the rain started again for no the third time this week! It seemed as if monsoon had not checked the calendar. It rained through the next day only stopping for a an hour at 7:30 giving us some time outside with everyone.
After what felt like an everlasting night the 26th arrived and it came with its own benefits. Our dad was coming up to Sidhbari as we were departing for Spiti Valley and Manali (It has its own blog page) on a eleven day driving holiday and eager to see the bearded vulture. Just as he arrived we hurried him through lunch and said that we wanted to show him the chicks and the nest. This time the clouds were on our side (for once) and the light was also great (overcast day). We walked through the fields of soyabean to come to a bush like plant growing of the field above where the male and two chicks were perched. He was amazed yet had just arrived and was constantly sneezing due to the pollen so filming in silence was a hopeless endeavour. After a male, female and Great Barbet passed we hear a strong flutter, almost like a buzz moving through the air, breaking the silence. We all looked around from tree to tree yet couldn’t find the source. After a few minutes my father saw a grey bird with a yellow and red underside.
An Ashy Prinia. Finally we found the cause of the puzzling buzz noise. It was sitting on top of a large flowering plant and in great light. Our father took some shots of the bird and then understood that the buzzing noise was made by the rapid wings flapping while the Prinia was in flight. We were actually quite amazed but couldn’t stay around much longer as we had to pack for our trip as we departed early in the morning the following day.
Here are some pictures from the fourth few days of viewing the cherry, aamla and guava nest. Scroll down for part 5 and video at the end ↓
Part – 5 (5th – 8th July)
Once we returned from our amazing trip to Spiti Valley and Manali we only had a few days before our departure to Delhi. Sadly when we arrived from Manali there was a slight drizzle and it was getting dark so we would have to postpone our visit to the Aamla nest (the other nest’s chicks have fledged and are flying about the property) to the following morning. It was now the 6th of July, a day away from our Grandmother’s 80th birthday, and an overcast morning. I immediately took off to the nest trying to make the most of the little time we had left. Just as I reached the Aamla nest I realised that there was an Indian Scops Owl nearby in a tree that was recently being mobbed by the male that was father to these chicks in the nest. At first I was quite scared yet disregarded the thought and locked the tripod to face the nest. After about half an hour of filming I finally decided to take a break and handed the camera over to my brother. Once I got to the house I started adding to this blog entry and organising images to make shortlists.
Post lunch I went back to the nest and got a video off the male feeding its chicks and the female disposing of a chick’s fecal sac. A fecal sac is a a strong membrane that encloses a nestling’s waste. It almost acts like a disposable diaper so parents can remove it from the nest by either dropping it off somewhere else or consuming it. This helps maintain the nest’s hygiene and keeps predators from detecting the smell of the feces keeping the nest safe. After what I just said you might be wondering that why do the parents consume the sac at times. A nestling’s digestion until they fledge is partially incomplete leaving many important calories and nutrients in their waste material. When the parents consume this it gives them energy making it easier for them to hunt for insects for the chicks and not themselves. Immediate consumption also removes any chance of slight trails of the smell of the sac being left around the nest further boosting the survival rate.
Once I got some decent videos of the chicks in the aamla nest being fed, I decided to go home not realising that they will be my last. The following morning there was a slight drizzle and I found shelter from the rain under the overarching roof of the area where we keep the chickens. As I positioned the camera, this time without the tripod, I saw out of the corner of my eye a bug hovering above the nest. I zoomed into the nest and saw a wing sticking out of the side but thought that the nest was overheating and forgot about it. I zoomed in further and saw that there was a wasp hovering over the nest and sitting in places on the chick’s body. My worst fears had come to life. I then saw in my picture that there were ruffled feathers all over the ground displaying a struggle to break free. The nest was breaking from one side, scavengers like wasps were eating flesh and flies were already laying eggs.
The nest had been raided. I couldn’t make out which bird could have done it but I suspected that the nearby Scops Owl was the culprit. It would have struck in the middle of the night when their sight is strongest and the flycatcher’s weakest. The wings were part of the leftover carcass in the nest and the parents were alarm calling around the area almost confirming the death. I was extremely sad yet thought that I should look at the bright side and said that now I had seen a success and a raid giving me a full circle experience of how nature works. After the plunder of the nest I didnt have anything to record or film so I decided for the next two days I had here to get this entry up and running.
Overall I must say that this was a first time for me and a huge success and learning experience. The whole thing felt like I was a part of it, the whole journey from eggs to fledglings was amazing and I hope that I can do this again next summer when I visit.
– Here is a video of all three nests from the 2nd of June to the 8th of July ↓ I havent displayed any pictures of the nest post the raid as I feel it would not have a nice end to the story.
Boys go birding 